A Deadly Friendship
by whyyouackinsocraycray
Summary: Relationships are strange things. In the matter of a night, strangers can become best friends, and over time, that friendship can turn to love. But with a single sentence, that love can shatter and become pure hatred. Where things go from there...well, I guess you just have to read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

Of all the places in the world, the Southern Isles could have arguably been the least welcoming. Even within the kingdom, there was a constant conflict over trade, and while it was never outwardly stated, everyone knew that they were on the brink of civil war. And, of course, with such internal struggles, why would the king and queen possibly be bothered to make connections with anyone? They were barely even able to bond with their thirteen children; how would they manage an entire other kingdom? But one day, they had no choice but to leave the safety of their palace to attend a ball in celebration of Princess Elsa of Arendelle, who was turning five years old. Most of the princes looked forward to the event, for they had never even ventured out of the kingdom before. Now, they would be able to experience new places and meet new people. None of them could imagine anything that may possibly be more exciting. Well, except for one of them. The youngest brother, on the other hand, wanted little to do with the ball, or with Arendelle. He wanted nothing to do with **anybody**. But, he had no choice. The royal family had already decided that it wasn't optional. They had missed every other birthday, including the literal birth days of both Princess Elsa and Princess Anna. They couldn't skip this one. So, they set off on a ship to the unfamiliar kingdom, and arrived in perfect time. The princes watched as their parents exchanged formal greetings with the king and queen of Arendelle, and their daughter eagerly rushed out to meet the strange newcomers.

"Hello!" She said eagerly. "I'm Elsa. Who are you?" She nodded and curtsied as each boy stated their name until she reached the one that most intrigued her. Unlike the rest of his family, he had fiery red hair that fell to his shoulders, and bright green eyes that shone like the stars themselves if you looked beyond the dark circles underneath them. He shuffled nervously and avoided eye contact; staring at the floor and letting his shaggy hair fall over his face. "And who are you?" The little princess asked, as perkily as ever. The prince seemed to recede inside himself like a turtle into his shell. His brothers scoffed, and their mother looked down at Elsa, who seemed confused, and a bit hurt.

"I'm sorry about him, dear. We haven't gotten him to say a single word in months."

"Oh. Why not?"

"Because he's a **freak**!" One of the princes replied with a sneer. Elsa was taken aback by the cruel statement. Why, if someone she loved refused to speak for months on end, it would undoubtedly worry her. And even if it didn't, she would never be so mean to anyone. She glanced at her hands and sighed. If they considered **this **kid a freak, what would they think of her if they knew the truth? She looked up at the king and queen of the Southern Isles, expecting them to ridicule their son, but neither of them batted an eyelid. So, being a very protective girl, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"You can't say things like that!"

"You're not the boss of me. I can say anything I want! Besides, I'm only telling the truth. Isn't that right, loser?" He chuckled, pushing his little brother to the ground. Elsa glanced up at her parents, who looked just as disgusted as she was. "That's it. We're getting out of here." She took the little boy's wrist and led him to the other side of the ballroom. "Don't listen to him. He's just mean. And don't worry; you don't have to talk to me. I understand." A small smile formed on the child's face, starting at the corners of his mouth, though he still made no eye contact with the princess whatsoever. "Well, I guess I'll get going. Come get me if your brothers start being mean to you again." She turned around and started walking towards her parents and little sister triumphantly, for such a young child always saw such a conflict as an incredible victory that could be shared for ages to come. But before she could get halfway there, she was cut off by a little voice behind her.

"P-Princess Elsa?" It called out nervously. She turned to see the little prince looking at her timidly.

"Wait a second. Did you just...**talk** to me?"

"Y-yeah." He stuttered quietly. "I-I just w-wanted to s-say th-thank you. N-no one's ever s-stood up for me like that before."

"You're welcome." Elsa replied, walking back towards him. "Now, I don't think I ever learned your name."

"Oh, r-right." The boy replied. "I-I'm Hansel. And I already know w-who you are." Elsa blushed.

"Hansel." She repeated to herself. Upon remembering what her father had taught her, she curtsied, and replied: "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hansel."

"I-it's a pleasure to meet you, too." He replied; his anxiety slowly fading. This girl seemed nice enough. Maybe there was no reason to worry, after all. He glanced nervously at his family, to see a couple of them staring at the two, wondering how on earth this girl got their timid little brother to actually speak. "C-can we go someplace else? Those guys are making me uncomfortable."

"No problem." Elsa replied, taking his hand once again. "Come on! I know just where to go." She led him outside, to the palace gardens. The clear sky was full of stars, and a gentle breeze blew over the land, preventing the summer night from being unbearably warm. They sat down on a small bench next to the duck pond, and swung their dangling feet back and forth in perfect synchronization. Hansel let out a small chuckle and looked Elsa in the eye for the first time.

"You know, you really don't have to waste your time with me. It's **your **birthday party. Go out and have fun."

"I'm already having fun. I actually like spending time with a small amount of people, but my parents are famous for holding great parties, so they don't really have a choice. Everyone would be really sad if they didn't have one."

"Oh." Hansel replied, breaking eye contact. "But don't you want to spend time with your real friends?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that nobody likes me. And you don't need to tell me that **you **like me, because I'll know that you're lying."

"But it's not a lie! I really do like you!"

"Why?"

"Well, you're nice to me, **and **you're fun to talk to."

"Try telling that to my brothers. They just think I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak, Hansel."

"Yes, I am." He sighed, sliding off the bench and walking towards the pond. "I always have been, and always will be."

"Why do you think that?"

"My whole life, I've been different." He replied quietly. "When my brothers want to have a swordfight, I want to stay in and read. When they want to go on adventures in far away kingdoms, I want to stay in the stables with the horses. It seems like everything they like, I'm the opposite."

"Well, your brothers don't seem like people that you want to be like, anyway." Elsa replied, walking up to stand at his side. "From what I've heard, your whole **kingdom **is pretty messed up."

"You can say that again. I can't wait 'til I'm old enough to leave the Southern Isles for good."

"Why would you leave? Don't you have to stay there?"

"Why would I have to stay there?"

"Well, you're a prince, right?" She asked. Hansel nodded confusedly. Where was she going with this? "So that means you're going to be king, doesn't it? And kings can't run away to other kingdoms."

"Well, you would be right, if it wasn't for the fact that I have twelve older brothers. But, because of them, I will probably never be king of anything. I mean, if I married a queen, it would be a different story, but what are the odds of **that **happening? You need to be in love to get married, and I'll be lucky if **anyone **ever loves me."

"Don't say that!"

"Why not? It's just the truth. Everyone but you hates me, and I'm not so fond of any of them, myself." The young prince sighed. Elsa walked up behind him and grabbed his hand.

"Well, that's the thing about the truth, Hansel. It can change. Kind of like how you're talking to me, even though you didn't want to talk at all before."

"Well, actually I did want to. But, if I ever talk with my brothers around, I just get teased and beaten up."

"That's really mean."

"It's what brothers do." Hansel sighed. "Just promise me one thing, Elsa."

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll never, ever be mean to your little sister."

"Of course! I don't like it when anyone is mean, so I won't ever be mean to Anna."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."


	2. Chapter 2

After that night, the two children didn't see each other for an entire year. Sure, they tried to keep in touch; occasionally sending letters back and forth to each other, but other than that, they really weren't able to interact much at all. So, when he knew that the little princess's birthday was coming up, Hansel built up the courage to speak to his parents so he could beg them to go. At first, they denied his request, telling him that they had better things to do, but after a little thinking, they figured that going to the ball again might get him to start talking on a daily basis, and that would mean having one less thing to worry about. After all, their reputation was poor enough without a mute prince. So, they all set off, and arrived in Arendelle the morning of the celebration. Hansel was the first one off the boat, and he sprinted towards the castle eagerly. He ran down the street, jumping and ducking to avoid obstacles with impressive grace for an eight year old. He reached the castle gates and stood eagerly outside. Sure, he could have just run in, but he didn't want to be rude. Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait for long, as Elsa quickly saw him through the window, ran out, and tackle-hugged him.

"Hansel! I can't believe it! I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been?" She asked excitedly. The young prince chuckled at her eagerness.

"I've been alright." He said. "I mean, when you're living in the Southern Isles, nothing is perfect, but things have been bearable. How about you?"

"I'm really good!" Elsa exclaimed. "Anna's getting old enough to play with me now, and we run around the ballroom and build snowmen, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Hansel interrupted. "You build **snowmen**? How do you manage to pull that off? It's the middle of summer!"

"Well…" Elsa said quietly. She knew that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about her powers, not even her friends. "I meant in the **wintertime** we build snowmen." Hansel could tell that she was hiding something from him, but he figured that he shouldn't push her. After all, it wasn't as if **he **was always 100% truthful.

"That makes sense." He chuckled. "So, what are the plans for to-" He started, but stopped mid-sentence as his family approached, and he looked at the ground, his entire demeanor changing from that of an energetic child to one of a terrified outcast. Elsa couldn't help but notice just how suddenly their presence had drained all happiness from her friend, and she wanted to get as far away from them as possible, but her father had told her to always be polite, so she smiled and curtsied.

"Hello. Welcome to Arendelle." She said sweetly. They barely even acknowledged her. Once they had all left, she turned back towards the young prince with a sympathetic smile. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I g-guess so." He stuttered.

"Why are you so scared of them? They're your family!"

"Oh, please. We may be related, but we are far from a family."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to love each other to be a family, and none of us love each other."

"Don't say that! I bet you do."

"No, we don't. My parents ignore me almost all the time, and my brothers all beat me up every single day. Well, except for three of them…"

"Well, then those three must love you."

"No, they're actually much worse."

"What do they do?"

"They pretend I'm invisible. It all started about three weeks ago. I thought that they would give it up by now, but they haven't."

"That's horrible!"

"It's what brothers do."

"That doesn't make it okay."

"Nothing my family does is okay. I just have to accept that. None of them like me, and none of them ever will."

"Well, I like you. And right now, it's time to have some fun!" She took Hansel's hand and the two of them sprinted through the gates and into the courtyard. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want, I guess."

"How about we feed the ducks?"

"Okay!" They ran inside, still hand-in-hand.

"Papa!" Elsa shouted. "Can we have some bread to feed the ducks?"

"Sure, kiddo." The king chuckled. "I'll go get some." He started to turn, but then paused and glanced down at the little prince. "Oh, and it's a pleasure to see you again, Hansel. Elsa's been looking forward to your visit for a long time." With that, he turned and walked towards the kitchen. Hansel smiled and blushed.

"No one's ever said that to me before."

"Said what before?"

"That it's a pleasure to see me. Is your father always that nice?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, **my** father is only nice when he has to be."

"That's horrible!"

"I've gotten used to it." Hansel sighed. "I mean, it's not like there's anything I can do to change things."

"Well, maybe if you-" Elsa started, but was cut off by the king entering with the bread that they had requested. "Thanks, Papa!" She exclaimed, taking some in her hand and giving the rest to Hansel. "Come on, let's go feed those ducks!" They sprinted back into the courtyard together, hand-in-hand.

Later that night, the two of them had made their way into the ballroom, but quickly grew tired of the dancing and formal greetings. So, they started off towards Elsa and Anna's bedroom.

"Where're you guys going?" A little voice asked from behind them.

"Just upstairs, Anna." Elsa replied with a smile. "Wanna come with us?"

"Uh huh!" Anna squealed excitedly. Hansel couldn't help but chuckle at the little girl's enthusiasm, but at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder why he had never been allowed to be so happy. But, he quickly shook it off and followed the tiny princess, who had already started running up the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" He laughed, sprinting after her.

"You run faster!" Anna replied.

"Yeah, Hansel. Quit being a slowpoke!" Elsa teased.

"Alright. It's on!" The prince said confidently, speeding up even more, until he was starting to finally catch up, and was on the verge of passing her. His victory was short-lived, however, and he lost his footing; falling down on top of Elsa. He quickly scrambled off of her; his eyes wide with concern. "I'm so sorry! A-are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Hansel."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Just relax, why don't'cha?" She giggled.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just afraid to hurt anybody."

"Why would you be afraid of that?"

"Because…" He hesitated, but figured there was no way to avoid telling her the truth. "Because there was a bad accident a few years ago. It was all my fault, and one of my brothers got really hurt. That's why they all hate me."

"Well, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I-" Before Elsa could say another word, Anna, who had run ahead without them, walked back down.

"What's takin' you guys so long?"

"Nothing." Hansel replied. "We're just talking."

"Well, come on! Let's go play! And maybe we can build a snowman!"

"Wait a second. Did you just say a snowman?"

"Yeah, with Elsa's magic!"

"Magic?" Hansel asked, taken aback. Surely, she wasn't talking about real magic, right? That was all made up for fairytales. Elsa smiled at him mischievously.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah, I can."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."


End file.
